Welcome Back
by Pennstance Flinn
Summary: Ben returns from a trip to Germany, and Riley is quick to greet him. One-shot. Ben-Riley Friendship. No slash.


**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my previous story, I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me that people actually want to read my stuff :) A special thanks goes to my beta reader, Califaction, also. All of your witty and inspiring comments really helped me fix this up.**

**As my second NT fic, I decided to use inspiration from real life…I just thought it suited Riley so well! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own National Treasure or Batman. Or the Olympics. Also, I don't have anything against any of the countries I mentioned here, so please don't take offense. Oh, and the History Channel? I don't think I even want to own that.**

A mansion, even an old, empty one, was nice to come home to. Even Ben Gates couldn't deny that as he came through the door, still groggy from the plane flight. Mansions were just so…welcoming. There were places to entertain, places to hang out with loved ones, and places just to be alone. And with Abby still in Germany visiting her parents, Ben had the whole place to himself. A daunting thought to some, but to Ben, it was the perfect opportunity to relax and spend just a few days without any responsibilities or expectations. Going to another country could definitely lay those on a person.

As he set down his bags, he couldn't help but smile, remembering Riley and his luggage troubles when they visited Ben's dad's house on the search for Cibola. The techie would want to know about Ben's trip, surely. He strode to the kitchen to pick up the phone, but before he could touch it, it began to ring. The tune of the national anthem echoed around the room for a moment until Ben pressed the "Talk" button and held the phone up to his ear.

"Hello, Ben Gates speaking," he said.

"Hello, Riley Poole speaking," came the mocking voice from the other end. "Come on, Ben, don't you know how to read caller ID?"

Ben rolled his eyes. "Sorry. I was just about to call you."

"Really?" Ben could imagine Riley in his apartment, multitasking like he always did. One hand would be on the laptop keyboard, the other in a bag of chips. Eyes would be flicking back from the computer screen to the TV, and his shoulder would be cradling the phone. He probably even had one of those Bluetooth things now.

He was startled from his thoughts by the techie's insistent voice in his ear. "Hello? Earth to Ben. Why were you going to call me?"

"Oh," Ben said, trotting up the stairs towards the living room. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm back home."

"That's exactly why I was calling you!" Riley said. Ben could practically see the ridiculous grin on his friend's face. "I knew you were getting back soon, so I…" There was a pause, and Ben heard some kind of shuffling at the other end of the line. "Sorry, I need to put this on the stove. Hold on for a second."

Silence pervaded the living room for a minute. Ben switched on the TV, flipping automatically to the History Channel. At that moment, Riley came back on the line again.

"Okay, it's all good. I'm actually making myself food tonight," the techie said. "I saw it on one of those cooking shows."

Ben snorted. "You watch those cooking shows?"

"'Course not!" replied Riley indignantly. He moved to a different subject without further explanation. "Hey, have you been following the Olympics lately?" Ben opened his mouth to reply, but Riley cut him off. "Dude, that Michael Phelps guy is crazy! In a good way, of course. Kind of like my type of crazy. Like, crazy good. Wait…" Riley paused. "You've heard of Michael Phelps, haven't you?"

It was Ben's turn to be indignant. "First of all, don't call me dude. And of course I've heard of him. He's…"

"You can watch it in Germany then? Are all the TVs broadcasting in Germanic or something?"

"It's German," said Ben impatiently. "And…"

"Germany is in the Olympics! I wonder how they're doing. The United States is doing really well, in case you wanted to know. I mean, I'm no sports fan, but I can definitely tell that we're doing well. I'm personally rooting for Fiji, just because it has a sweet name…"

Ben managed a small, mostly fake chuckle. "Well…"

"And I went to see a movie today! You know, at the big theater. Guess what I saw!"

"Hm…" Now Ben was only half listening. He was hearing Riley, but his attention was mostly focused on the TV in front of him. "I don't know."

"Come on," Riley whined. "You have to guess!"

Ben sighed. "I've been gone for three weeks, Riley. I don't even know what movies are showing."

"Fine," Riley was most likely crossing his arms, disappointed. "You ruiner of fun. I bet you don't even know who Batman is."

"Batman? Is that playing?" Ben said absently.

"The Dark Knight," Riley said proudly. "I didn't even go when it first came out. I was waiting to see if you wanted to come with and see it with me. Then I decided that you probably didn't even want to see it. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Today was just a free day, and I had nothing to do."

"A free day? Riley, every day is a free day for you."

"What are you talking about? I have things to do. Like work on my next book! And research…stuff. Not boring stuff, but…you know, _interesting _stuff. I improve my mad skills."

Ben shook his head. "You don't have a job."

A loud sigh, made fuzzy by the phone, came through the speaker. "So true. And I'm so happy for it, too. Anyway, I went all alone, and I got popcorn and pop and those sour candy things and I went into the movie theater. And there were barely any people there, so I just chose the middle row. And there were these people behind me, and the lady was asking me to move because I was too tall and she couldn't see. Since when has anyone called me tall, really?" Riley paused for effect. "So I moved over a couple seats, so I wasn't even in front of her. And all through the movie she was just glaring at me!"

"Mhm…" Ben mumbled, intent on the History Channel.

"But the movie was good anyway, even with the creepy lady behind me. Nobody can beat Batman's sheer awesomeness. Don't you agree?" Riley gave a short laugh. "Oh, wait. You don't like Batman, do you? I'm telling you, you'd love this movie. I'm taking you to this movie. Tomorrow."

"Whatever you say," Ben said. He tapped absently on the remote.

Riley sighed again. "You're watching the History Channel, aren't you?"

By this time Ben was in a near unresponsive state. "Sure."

"Didn't you want to call me to tell me about your trip?" Riley said. "To Germany? With Abby?"

Ben sat up straighter, glad to be involved in the conversation again. "Yeah, actually…"

"Oh, crap," Riley's panicked voice came through. "I forgot about the stove. Food. Burning. Got to go."

"Okay, just…" Ben started.

Riley interrupted once more. "Listen, I'll call you tomorrow and ask how your trip went. Have to run."

Before Ben could give saygoodbye, the phone was beeping in his ear. He sighed and set the phone down on the couch. "Don't burn the apartment down," he said to no one in particular. Reclining once more, he turned up the volume and hoped he wouldn't hear the wail of the fire trucks. He shrugged.

"At least it's not in my house."

**Hope you enjoyed it! And yes, I got a call from my friend that sounded almost exactly like that…different topics, of course, but the same closing line. Thank you, my good friend. You know who you are.**


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